Unsafe food poses global health threats, potentially endangering consumers. The great majority of people will experience a food-borne disease at some point in their lives. Ready-to-eat (RTE) food is the one intended by the producer or the manufacturer for direct human consumption without the need for cooking or other processing effective to eliminate or reduce the concentration of pathogenic microorganisms. Prepared foods are often complex and may contain multiple components that make them vulnerable for growth of pathogenic microorganisms. Among all the pathogenic microorganisms that may be present in RTE foods, Listeria monocytogenes is of special interest because it is the causative agent of listeriosis and it has the ability to survive and replicate at refrigeration and low pH conditions. We performed a quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA) in RTE dry-fermented sausage to measure the risk of listeriosis associated to the consumption of this product. The starting point of our investigation was the storage at the factory, after the end-product was produced and before distribution to retail. The stochastic model was implemented in MicroHibro, an online tool for QMRA. Because L. monocytogenes concentration and prevalence can vary greatly between different studies and different types of fermented sausages, we tested different scenarios to show the importance of low prevalence and concentration of the pathogen at the final product. Our results show that the risk estimates are very sensitive to the modelling hypotheses used to describe this process. Therefore, the development of accurate probabilistic models describing the initial concentration of L. monocytogenes shall largely reduce the uncertainty associated to the QMRA of listeriosis in this type of product.Plastics are used ubiquitously and have become part of our everyday life. The global production of plastics is rising, which in consequence is leading to increasing amounts of plastics being released into the environment. Recently, the issue of human exposure to micro- and nanoplastic particles and potentially resulting toxicological consequences has been broached, triggered by the discovery of microplastics in foodstuff. In addition to dietary exposure via contaminated food and beverages, other exposure paths such as via air and cosmetics, have to be considered. Currently there is no legislation for microplastics and nanoplastics as contaminants in food. Substantial data gaps with respect to exposure as well as toxicity of such particles impede the risk assessment. Within this EU-FORA fellowship project, a comprehensive data mining approach was followed, focusing on up-to-date knowledge on the occurrence and possible toxic effects associated with micro- and nanoplastics after oral exposure, especially via food products and beverages, in order to provide a basis for risk assessment and to identify important research gaps. The fellowship project was further complemented by practical work aimed at the determination of in vitro toxicity of micro-sized polylactic acid particles.In the last decades, there is an increasing inclusion of various trace metals and metalloids such as thallium, tellurium and rare earth elements (REEs; lanthanides, scandium, and yttrium) in the composition and production of alloys, in agricultural and medicinal applications, as well as in the manufacturing of hi-tech products. All these activities have led to an accumulation of the aforementioned elements both in soil and water bodies and consequently in the food chain, through discharges from mining and mineral processing, liquid industrial waste or disposal of urban and industrial products. It has been demonstrated that chronic exposure to some of these elements, even at low doses, might lead to a wide range of adverse health effects, even from the early stages of life, such as neurotoxicity, neurodevelopmental toxicity and hepatic alterations. Particularly in children, there have been studies suggesting that some of these elements might negatively affect the children's spatial learning and memory ability indirectly. Such effects are triggered by processes like the production of reactive oxygen species (ROS), lipid peroxidation and modulation of antioxidant activities. Nevertheless, the limited data from toxicological studies and their so-far naturally low occurrence levels in the environment acted as a deterrent in measuring their concentrations during routine analyses of metals in foodstuff. Thus, it is important to collect information on their occurrence data both in adults and in children's daily diet. This review sumrises the current knowledge on the concentration of these elements, in plant-based food products to identify whether a potential health risk occurs. As side projects, this Fellowship provided hands-on training on the evaluation of new biocides application and participation in the given advice to the Danish Food and Veterinary Administration, Danish Environmental Protection Agency, the Danish Medical Agency and the European Chemicals Agency.The clinical benefit of conventional disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (cDMARDs) for treating ankylosing spondylitis (AS) is generally limited to improvements in peripheral arthritis. However, cDMARDs could be conditionally considered as alternatives to established drugs for improving axial manifestations in exceptional circumstances. However, there are few studies of the impact of cDMARDs on radiographic progression outcomes. Therefore, we investigated the effectiveness of cDMARDs on radiographic progression in AS.
Among 1280 AS patients at a single hospital from 2000 to 2018, 301 who had been treated with sulfasalazine (SSZ) or methotrexate (MTX) were enrolled. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/wz-811.html For each patient, the entire follow-up period was split into 1-year intervals. Each interval was classified as either an "on-cDMARD" interval, which was a period of treatment with SSZ alone, MTX alone, or a combination of SSZ and MTX, or an "off-cDMARD" interval, which was a period without cDMARD treatment. Radiographic progression was scored using the modified Stoke Ankylosing Spondylitis Spinal Score (mSASSS). The relationship between cDMARD use and radiographic progression within the intervals, defined as the rate of mSASSS progression, was investigated using linear models with adjustment for potential confounding covariates and for clustering among observations from the same patient.
The 732 on-cDMARD intervals and 1027 off-cDMARD intervals were obtained from enrolled patients. In multivariable regression analysis, there was no significant association between cDMARDs and the rate of mSASSS progression (β?=?-0.081, ?=?0.418). The mean adjusted mSASSS change per year was 0.610 from on-cDMARD intervals and 0.691 from off-cDMARD intervals.
Treatment with cDMARDs may not reduce radiographic progression in AS patients.
Treatment with cDMARDs may not reduce radiographic progression in AS patients.